


Deep Jump

by LuciaWilt



Series: A Crow's Ring [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Age Difference, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, M/M, Shapeshifting, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-10
Packaged: 2020-04-23 20:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19158781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuciaWilt/pseuds/LuciaWilt
Summary: She shook like a leaf in that room, unaware of who stood around her; unaware that they were allies and would not hurt her.





	Deep Jump

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so I was kind of up in the air as to if I should post this now or later. However this kind of sets up what is happening later on. It goes with A Crow's Ring and I will alert yall in that fic when you should jump back over and read this again.

You know, there were a lot of things that Tony would expect from his life at this point. He would expect Bruce to show up for the night to hover in the corner; which he did. He would expect Steve and his buddy Sam to drop by for drinks; once again which they did. He knew Maria was going to roll in; knew Natasha and Clint would shuffle in sooner or later. It was all the “usual”. His strange new little “family” filled different roles and “holes” in his heart. 

Hey, he never said he was living a normal life. Not after everything that happened. Tony highly doubted he could ever go back to that. Honestly, he was unsure if he even wanted to. Was that not normal? Just going through something rather extreme over and over and then that becomes your new normal? In the past during some of his research and pursuing the web, he saw that such a thing often happened to those in the CIA or having an occupation like a NASCAR driver; especially when those people had kids. 

They had a life full of constant ‘go go go’ and then a kid brings them to a full stop. Not that he considered their group children. Far from it actually considering all of them could kill him rather quickly without his suit. 

No…they were… 

They were home. 

How odd that it had come that far from where they started. 

But that was WAY beside the point. 

It was a usual, plain, casual; all the other adjectives to describe the benign sort of night. The quiet back and forth was comfortable, relaxing. It was something Tony could get used to for the time being. 

And then all hell broke loose, as per usual. One second Steve was telling some silly little joke from the 30’s and then the large sitting room was filled with a shattering light and a screeching noise; like glass and metal ripping against one another. 

“JARVIS!” Tony shouted before hearing a quiet ‘On it sir’. Then the light settled and his head whipped around, back and forth to see that everyone was in fact accounted for. Really everything looked normal and untouched. 

“What the hell just happened?” It was Sam that broke the silence and Tony had never been more thankful for the vet. He calmed Steve’s frantic energy down a touch when things got turbulent. Like they were now actually; wow Sam really did come in handy. 

Those that used sidearms had them pulled and were looking about; though it did not take long to figure out what was amiss in the large room. Yes everyone was accounted for, plus one. 

It was a streak of blood and dirt that flew across the floor one level down from their sitting area. The human, at least from what Tony could see, was petite and had long black hair. They wore plain clothing in the form of simple black leggings and an over sized tunic but all over he could see fine jewelry; all gold and delicate around their limbs. One small hand was pressed to their stomach and the other was holding what appeared to be a dagger; they slowly pushed up to a standing position having to use the wall. 

In no time at all they were all down in that particular section of the room but came up short; Tony’s glasses shimmering for a moment. It was probably just a habit their rag tag little family team formed, not wanting to dive head first into anything. Hesitancy saved lives in these situations. 

“JARVIS?” Tony asked. The person flinched before letting out a long wet breath; it almost seemed as though they forgot they were not alone and had just teleported into Tony’s building. 

For a moment JARVIS was silent which had Tony’s heart rate rising. All he could do was wait for his AI while the small thing before them shifted, more so now that they were facing the group. Tony could see Steve step up and move in front of the rest of them while he waited and honestly; that was probably for the best. Steve could talk down a rabies ridden lion.

Finally JARVIS spoke though this time it was over the loud speakers. The tiny long haired person flinched again. “Sir you are looking at an Asgardian. They have a similar make up to CODENAME Point Break; however there are some discrepancies.” 

That got everyone’s attention. Suddenly they were all looking into shocked green eyes and a dagger held out in front of her. Yes it was a her; or at least that’s what Tony could tell. 

She was absolutely stunning, though probably a little young. Her eyes whipped back and forth, the dagger in her hand following the same pattern. Now Steve’s hands were lifted in a ‘I’m not going to hurt you’ fashion as he stepped closer to her. 

Tony heard his glasses whirring and knew JARVIS was looking again now that he could see the woman’s face. Eye scans were often most eye opening in these sort of situations. “We are not going to hurt you.” Steve started in that soft voice of his. Her wild eyes flew back to him and they all saw the blood drip from her lips; saw how she grabbed tighter to her side. 

No wonder she was terrified. It was clear someone or something just put her through the ringer. 

“You all are Midgardian?” She whispered. That was confirmation enough that she was from Asgard or “Asgard adjacent” as Tony had taken to calling. 

Steve nodded again. This time he put one of his hands out, definitely pulling the ‘this is a hurt animal and they need to get the lay of the land first’ maneuver. As Tony said, rabies ridden lion. 

Her skin shimmered with that weird magic they had heard Thor talk about before and JARVIS spoke again. “Ah sir.” The accented voice called. Again the woman looked utterly frazzled though there was something going on behind those green eyes. 

“No need to keep us in suspense JARVIS.”

“It seems as though you may know this Asgardian; a sibling of one Thor Odinson.”

For the second time that night everything shifted. Every occupant in the room tensed and Steve stepped back once but this “sibling” of Thor’s shattered. The dagger in her…his? Hand dropped and she threw herself forwards. Steve’s only option was to catch her or let her run into his chest. “Thor? You Midgardians know Thor? Please! Please I have to speak with him!” She gasped again; right before letting out a pained keeling noise. Steve, Tony, and everyone else were stunned silent. All they could do was watch as she reached down with one bloody hand, the other one gripping white knuckled on Steve’s tight blue button down. 

She was shaking like a leaf when she lifted her shirt. Out of the corner of Tony’s eye, he could see Bruce flinch towards her, instinctively moving to help people that needed medical care. Tony would like to think he would do the same thing but he was not entirely sure. 

Her entire stomach was bruised; black as squid ink. Around the edges it grew purple and blue and red. But what had Tony’s stomach twisting was the fact the bruise clearly took the form of finger prints; like a giant hand had gripped her to the point of bursting. 

That in itself, lifting her shirt, seemed to take whatever energy had been left in her. She shook harder and harder, gripping Steve’s shirt before her legs finally gave out. The last thing she was able to whisper before letting darkness take over was, “Thor. Please I need…”

Steve being Steve, and not being able to let a pretty woman fall to the ground unconscious, grabbed her even though the evidence from JARVIS’s discovery was staring them in the face. 

Tony was the one to have broken the silence. “You know I distinctly remember Loki being not nearly as cute.”

~’~

“We need to contact Thor.” Bruce said once everyone aside from Tony left the room. Steve had to carry Loki to the lab; her weight neigh impossible given her petite size. Steve was the only one that could lift her when she was passed out as she was. It was the only place they had a long table where they could put Loki as well as keep tabs on her vitals…his vitals…whatever. Tony rolled over his own stool; his eyes trained on Loki’s form with his arms crossed over his chest. It was not as though Tony could do anything for Loki outside of help Bruce with the equipment. It was the ex-nuclear physicist that had the medical degree, not the tech genius. 

Unfortunately Tony was being Tony. He stopped beside the table which they had lowered so they could work and keep an eye on her at the same time. At this height, even with the two of them on the stools, her face rested a little lower than their sternums. Bruce watched in annoyance as Tony reached out and brushed his fingers against her cheek at first. 

“Tony.” Bruce started with a warning in his voice. Tony just looked up, one fine eyebrow arched. 

“What? Are you not at least a little bit intrigued?” Of course Bruce was. There was a scientific anomaly lying right before him. Loki had pretty much shapeshifted from the last time they saw him. Now her delicate features were closed off; the pain she was experiencing still very evident on her face. Tony finally pulled away after brushing over her lips. 

It was a pain in the ass. Bruce wanted to administer some sort of pain medication to put her at ease while she rested and they decided on what to do. However just like Thor, her skin was like solid steel. Every needle Bruce attempted to push through her skin just bent and broke. So all they could do was keep her temperature down. The other thing was; Bruce would not begin any sort of intense examination without consent from either Loki herself or Thor, who they still had not decided on contacting yet for a reason that was beyond him. 

Though Bruce had pushed up her shirt just to keep it off the injury. Right now the contusions looked just that; like severe bruising. However the way she had been vomiting blood, that did not speak well for what he could possibly find within her body if and when he did a further examination. 

It was odd, though, considering he had seen how fast Thor healed. Was it their magic? If so, then Loki must have expended most of hers; the hideous black and blue bruising had not gotten better, not even by a bit. “Look, I hate seeing you act like a kicked puppy; makes me feel guilty and I hate feeling guilty.” Tony said as he stood. Bruce looked up from his intense staring pointed at Loki’s flat stomach. “I’ll send out the thunder signal and we can hope for Thor to catch it; but that’s all I can do. Thor continues to deny my cellphone purchases for him.” And with that, Tony exited the room. All Bruce could do was stare at Loki as she flinched and twitched, unconscious to the world but the pain eating away at her body. What could have injured a god so severely that she would jump through time? 

Bruce had ever right to dislike her, to deny her treatment after what Loki did in New York those few years ago. They all were well within their rights to just kick her out on the street. None of them took the hypocritic oath; Bruce sure did not. Yet…yet he just could not bring himself to do such a thing. And he could see Tony thinking the same thing. This was not the Loki that invaded New York. This was not the Loki that tortured and hurt all of them, hurt Thor and nearly brought the city to her knees. 

Bruce could only guess her “physical human” age without examining her further. He placed her under twenty but older than fifteen; perhaps 16 or 17. Loki was showing signs of maturity; slowly losing baby fat and her features coming to a fine point. Yet she was so young, so strikingly young. It was all too confusing considering if she jumped from when she was that young, wouldn’t Thor be with her? 

He could not ponder such things for too much longer. A roll of thunder indicated the final guest for the night had arrived.

~’~

“What games are you playing Stark?” Thor felt his blood boiling as he stormed through the hallways of the tall “skyscraper” as they were called. Tony Stark was leading him up to the lab where…where. 

“Trust me. No games Point Break. We were just as surprised as you; especially since you told us he had died some time ago. When he…she crashed into the living room covered in blood, well you were the only one we could really call with this. S.H.I.E.L.D would not be so lenient let me remind you.” His words blew off some of the steam that had been billowing off the god of thunder. Tony Stark was right. That agency would surely kill Loki for what he did to their city; and as mad as Thor was, he would never want to see such a fate befall Loki. 

Though he had been sure that was the case a few years ago. Now Thor was just wondering if he should take any of Loki’s “deaths” seriously any longer. 

It took little time for them to reach the lab Stark had been guiding him to. Once the door open, Thor felt a flood of seiðr bowling into him; near enough to knock him flat on his back. It was pouring from something further in the room, like whoever the source was had no control over it. He stormed past Tony, not caring about the shouts for him to hold on. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bruce watching over the low table that held the epi-center of what Thor was feeling. 

The god of thunder was speechless, hesitant to step forwards. 

That was Loki’s soft face, the feminine form he had rarely taken in the past. It was Loki’s body, all svelte and lanky; Loki’s long dark hair that was stuck to the edges of her face from sweat. Her green eyes were closed and he watched in fascination and fear as she twitched in pain; even unconscious. That’s when his eyes slid down the body to a hideous dark bruise in the shape of a giant hand on her stomach. There was still blood drying to that pale skin that had exited her mouth at some point. 

He was furious again. 

He could not know if this was his Loki until she was awake. Even then, Loki had lied and lied and lied. Thor adored the ground Loki walked on and would for the rest of his long life, that did not mean he could not be angry with the god of mischief. Before Bruce and Tony could stop him, he dropped Mjolnir onto the petite teens stomach and grabbed her jaw in a threatening grip. His free hand wrapped around the back of her head and grabbed a handful of inky black hair when those big green eyes finally opened. 

“You even got her eyes down you witch.” It was clear, the confusion on the imposters face. “Now dispel your glamor you thief. Take my brothers face off!” He shook the handfuls, both the jaw and the dark hair, as hard as he could. There was a sick sense of satisfaction at seeing the imposter let out a broken sob. Clearly Mjolnir was never moving unless Thor wanted it to. That, and the aggressive push and pull he did with the creatures head was discombobulating the individual further. 

“Big brother. Thor! Oh Norns Thor! I knew you would come! I knew you were alive!” The creature was gasping; the voice even terrifyingly accurate. Thor felt his stubbornness waver at the sound. It…it just was not possible. “Please Thor! Please you must trust me!” She was gasping and reaching up with her free hands. Those petite fingers wrapped around his large forearms right when blood started to slip from her lips once again. 

Only her gasping sobs and hard breathes could be heard in the room when Thor paused his shaking. It was clear Bruce and Tony were about to step in but paused when Thor froze. “Loki?” Thor had never felt so weak, so exhausted. Loki’s big green eyes blinked up at him, full of tears as she nodded. It was like a dam broke. Thor moved; grabbing her cheeks as he sat down beside her on the table. 

The young woman all but jumped into his arms when he moved Mjolnir off her stomach, her loud wailing sobs filling the lab as he held onto her as tightly as he could. 

~’~

Loki knew this was the wrong time. She did not jump back far enough, that much was obvious. She was also on Midgard. It was a pain in the ass. She knew she should have jumped to the Midgard of the time she had just been in. During her time in the castle, she over heard the rumors and the whispers; over heard the chatter of Midgardians that had put up a fight. 

Midgardians that had known her older brother…had known Roshan. 

But she was here now. All Loki could do was recuperate, stay hidden, then push out a new plan in her mind. Once she was physically able to; she knew she had to make another jump or these people and her older brother would be in danger. 

It was strange. As she sat there with Thor in front of her, she could see the similarities in his age. How she never put two and two together, how she never realized Roshan was Thor from the future. 

“I am just going to do a simple check right now.” Dr. Banner said beside her. Thor’s hand never left hers as she nodded and gave him the go ahead to continue. “I am glad you finally woke up; though it could have been a gentler rising.” He said, giving Thor a pointed look that the god of thunder completely missed. His eyes had not left Loki’s form. “I did not want to just jump into an examination when there was a chance you did not want to be touched by a human doctor.” He said and Loki honestly liked him. He seemed level headed for a Midgardian, if not a little fidgety. His brilliance was evident and she was sure if they were not so different in form then they would have made great friends. 

“Who did this to you?” She heard Thor ask. That had Loki turning back to him, his eyes downcast; staring at their connected hands. He brushed her knuckles as he waited for an answer. 

“I cannot tell you.” It was the truth. As Roshan had explained, too many variables were in play. That, and she just did not want Thor rushing off into the galaxy to fist fight Thanos. He was bull headed enough to try something like that. 

Clearly her answer did not please him. There was a low growl in the back of his throat that had Bruce stuttering in his search but he continued after a moment. “Then you will tell me how you arrived here.” 

“I cannot tell you that either Thor.” 

“Uh!” The blonde shot off the table and stormed around the lab. One “Tony Stark” had left, leaving the three of them to continue what they were doing in relative silence. “Then what can you tell me Loki? You “die” in my arms then arrive on Midgard in such a fashion? You must give me something or my heart will burst with agony Loki.” 

Ah those melodramatics. It seemed as though her older brother did not grow out of them even as he aged. 

Loki took a deep breath, knowing full well what she must say. A warning without the specifics; something that would surely infuriate Thor, but things that had to be shared. “I am 16 in Midgardian years.” There was a breath of ‘so young’ that came from Thor’s lips but she continued. “All I can say is that it was my seiðr that brought me here. But brother,” He took a step forwards and Bruce rolled back, giving them space but listening in to what was said. “You must become stronger; you must become better, not only for Asgard, but for everyone. The universe will depend on it. Get stronger Thor, for me.” She whispered the last bit as Thor cupped her cheek once again. His large thumb brushed over her lips, her cheek, and her eye. 

“Tell me Loki. Tell me what you need now. Tell me what I can do.” 

She let out a shuddering breath. “I cannot stay long for if I do, I will put everyone in danger. I just need to heal up, recover my seiðr, and then I can make another jump.” She finished right as Thor wrapped his large arms around her; pulling her tiny form in closer. Whether Dr. Banner was still in the room or not, she could not bring herself to care. Thor leaned down and pressed a kiss against her neck; one that they had shared even when their feelings for each other were not truly known, as it surely was then. This passed seiðr between two Asgardians and she shuddered from the sensation of his scruff brushing against her soft skin. When he finally pulled away Loki could only sigh at his proximity. 

“Then we will do that. Brother, I will keep you safe as long as you are with me here.” And she knew he was right. 


End file.
